It's a.....

Girl?

Or



Boy?

Yeah, we're not sure either. : ) 

We went early to find out because we just didn't want to wait until 20 weeks, and now we're back at square one. The ultrasound tech said it's a girl, but when we got home and looked at the pictures again the second picture has us second guessing.....Hmm?

If we know nothing else, we know this baby is either really modest or has a sense of humor. As soon as we started looking for the gender the legs crossed and put it's little hand over itself....and when we kept trying to look the baby turned upside down! Lol. 

I really don't care either way, what God gives I'll graciously accept. I am just too darned curious for my own good ; ) We get to have another look at 20 weeks, so that's exciting!

Boy or Girl?

Is it a ......boy? or a girl?

We're going to get a 3-d ultrasound today to find out, I can't wait to know what this little one is.  : ) 

Couponological Neuroscience

Well if you're looking for that sort of science, you're in the wrong place! I have it down to a simple one if you'd like to read on. I like simple, I have a hard time keeping things that way, but it usually works better in the end for me if I do.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post I thought I would write up some tips and info on how I go about doing mine. I'm not a genius at it, but it can really take a while to develop a system from scratch on your own if you're just starting so this may help someone along those lines. This LOOKS like a lot of work but I just work best in run on sentences ; ). No really, it might take you 45 mins to an hour the first time you do this, but as you maintain it each weekend when you pick up the newspapers you won't spend nearly as much time.

Supplies:
1 Zippered binder
10+ dividers with pockets
20 clear baseball card holder sheets
1 calculator
1 Pen
1 Highlighter
1 Pair of scissors (why is it called a pair anyway, I wonder?)
4 Printed grocery lists
2 Newspapers (yes two, no I swear it will not turn you into a coupon maniac or consume too much time but this is pertinent for just starting and two cheaper or free items is better than one, right?)

Process:

1. Lay all of  this out on your kitchen table.

2. Insert dividers into binder and label them into grocery aisles/types accordingly or however you want.
-Fruits / Vegetables
-Frozen
-Drinks
-Non Perishable
-Meats
-Dairy
-Cleaning
-Paper
-Household
-Baby and/or dog, whichever or if both apply separate dividers
-Toiletries
-etc as you deem fit for your family

3. Put two clear baseball card holder sheets in each section, you could end up with 5 or more eventually, depends on how addicted you get to the grocery game. Also put one or two more in the front of the very first divider, I will explain this one later.

4. Cut out all of the coupons that your family would use now or in the future (not only if you need it right this minute, sometimes coupons last for months) and arrange them into like categories.

5. Put the categorized coupons into the divider pockets if you don't have a lot of time right now so they are at least separated by type or go ahead and slide them into the baseball card holders in the corresponding section of the binder if you do have time.

6. Yay! All of your coupons are organized now. Half the battle won. No digging through your purse or an envelope at the store anymore! : )

7. Look through your pantry, fridge, household supplies, and toiletries and record what is running low on your printed grocery list and how many you need or want.

8. Circle all of the items in the grocery sales flyer(s) that you are interested in buying. If you live near a store that does price matching (walmart / bottom dollar etc) I suggest doing this for bulk shopping as price matching from several stores can yield significant savings. It gives you the opportunity to cherry pick the best sales and get them all from the same place.

9. Now next to each corresponding item on your grocery list write the initials of the store that you plan  to price match that items price next to it. For instance:  2 pks Toilet paper (FL) for price matching at Food Lion. These helps with having a smooth transaction at checkout because you can seamlessly flip to the flyer you need to price match each item.

10. Now brace yourself, that may not be all the savings for that one item. Say, Charmin toilet paper is on sale for $5.97 at Food Lion but it is $8.97 at Walmart, after a price match you've saved $3 bucks from what you would have spent! Awesome! But wait, now look in the paper products section in your coupon binder and pull out those $1.00 off Charmin coupons, and now you will be able to save $4 on each pack of toilet paper. And if you'd written down on your list like my example was that you were going to be buying 2 packs, then you just saved yourself $8.00 on just one type of item. This can add up quickly.

11. Now take those two Charmin coupons and put them in the first baseball card holder sheet that's in the very beginning of your binder. This is a placeholder for all of the coupons that correspond to what is on your list and that you know you will use, so that you don't forget any of them in their appropriate categories or even have to bother looking while in the store. Then your freed up to look for categorized coupons for surprise things you find on sale.

12. Next, put a star beside the item and store it is being price matched at to remind you that you have a coupon for it, this may be excessive for most lol but my preggo brain and shopping with a four year old self, needs this double reminder.

13. Go shopping, girl!

And that's it..... sorry so lonnnnnnnnng winded ; )

Karina

12 Things: August Recap

12 Things: August Recap

My 12 things skill to work on has been meal planning. And man, did our house ever need it. I haven't perfected that skill by any stretch of the imagination, and there were still nights that dinner was grabbed out when things didn't work out at home (we are redoing parts of our home and although it's messy I'd still like to be able to stay on top of dinner). But what I did do was gain a new, fresh mindset. And I'll take that and be happy with it as I keep working at this. After trying, and figuring out what will work for us, I WANT to make it work for us. I want home cooked meals, I want that saved money not spent on restaurants, and I want a routine that works to make that happen. I think I will have the hang of it soon. So I thought I would recap what worked for me to challenge myself with this skill and/or what I think will work better than what I tried. 

1. Make meal plans two weeks at a time: even and especially including weekends. 

2. Make easy meals on the weekends: like using your crock pot or grilling. This is particularly helpful if you happen to be laying carpet in your house two weekends in a row and it sort of over takes the other rooms. Crock pot = not very much mess or fuss....Grill= all the mess is outside. So you can still cook, even with carpet tacks and paint buckets all about.

3. Buy a stack of paper plates and a stack of disposable cups: Give yourself a break, some grace, permission what have you. I am all for getting and staying on top of the dishes but some days with whatever might be going on in your life, cut your self some slack and make sure you have them in your house, somedays a pile of dishes is just too much on top of everything else. I'd much rather spend a few dollars and save my sanity every once in a while.

4. Bulk shop once a month: this can be a real sanity saver, especially if you have little ones or if your pregnant and your energy is lackluster or if you just want more time in your life even. I think this is one of the most practical aspects of meal planning. Start out according to your budget, it may not be practical to do big bulk shopping at the beginning of the month or even once a month at all.

That's okay! Work with what works for your family. You can shave off a little of your grocery bill per week and use the savings at the end of the month to buy some things in bulk at good prices for next month. You could have a no shopping week during the month and eat out of your pantry to get those savings to use right away. Or if you'd rather do it little by little, just spend $10-20 extra dollars a week on buying things your family consumes regularly when you see it at the lowest price and stock up. It will ad up and soon you will have a perpetual pantry.

5. Plan your shopping ahead of time: Don't just go to the store. I have let my coupon addiction fall by the way side, I like to think that morning sickness flushed it out of my system haha. : D But I really noticed the difference in our grocery bill and am getting back on track., I missed the savings. Without much planning, I'd say 15 minutes, I saved a good $20.00 between price matching and coupons. I used to save a lot more than that each week, but I am just getting back into it and only had the energy for minimal effort. You can definitely maximize your savings even more that that. It really adds up.

One scenario was Old spice body wash. I had a coupon for Buy one get one free and a coupon for $1.00 off of two Old Spice items. I also had an ad from another store that had them priced $1 cheaper. After the coupons and price match I got them for $1 each down from $8 total.  Also even if you're not a coupon person and don't want to bother with it,  I suggest at least looking at the sales flyers and using them to price match at one store you can glean a lot of savings this way too.

I will make a follow up post on how I make my shopping list that makes price matching less of a hassle and how I  organize coupons to maximize savings for anyone that is interested, it's not fool proof but I find it really helps after developing a system to work for me so I don't have to over think so much while shopping. 

Hope everyone is doing well with the 12 Things challenge. I have seen some really great skills, and even better outcomes from women trying them for the first time. I know it has been really encouraging to me from finding such nice comments from other ladies that are participating, enjoying so many of the blogs that are linked up, and feeling challenged to try these new things knowing there are so many others all working along side each other.

Karina 

Weekly Menu Planner

Click here for a printable pdf of this menu planner.

So, to help me with the 12 New things Challenge I've joined over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee's site, and my proverbs pursuit I developed this weekly menu planner for this months skill. As I mentioned in a post or so ago, we've been trying to be mindful of what we're eating and what is in what we're eating so we've been buying more organics but I'm also still a coupon/deal addict and want to get the most bang for my buck while eating well.

So I added two lists as a guide for what the Environmental Working Group deem as the Dirty Dozen list of foods (dirtiest as in most pesticides found/used) to buy organic and the Clean fifteen list of foods that are deemed okay to buy to buy non-organic.

Anyway, I thought I would post this in case anyone wants to print it out and use it for their menu planning. I have done pretty good this week, hopefully I will keep up the pace! I think using a planner helps, it's a good form of accountability....okay accountability with an inanimate object lol but never the less I think it helps by seeing something already planned out you're less likely to not actually go ahead and make the meal.

Also another tip is to laminate this if you have a machine, or you can do like I did and use the self laminating sheets I got on sale and get it laminated in a second and hang it on the fridge with a magnet so it's reusable.

If you want something more simple there is a super cute menu planner that I used and linked to in a post below you could use also.

12 New Things

Click to learn more about 12 New Things on

Like a Warm cup of Coffee's blog...

I finally decided to narrow down my plans of focusing on proverbs 31 characteristics in my last post, to doing better with grocery planning and meals aka bringing food from afar. So later I take a look at one of my favorite blogs over at www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com and see her latest post, it's about choosing 12 new skills, and focusing on one a month for 12 months to join as a community of bloggers.

This fits awesomely with my own plan but really kicked my butt into gear once there was something to join and I penned out what I should focus on that went according to what season of our life we would be in a particular month. So thanks for a kick in the butt without even knowing it, Sarah Mae! Otherwise, all of my good intentions might have floated around with the dust bunnies and paint splatters around here ( can we say: stilllll renovating! lol)

So anyway, here is my list of twelve, I really truly (do you hear that procrastination??) want to accomplish this next year!

August: She is like merchant ships bringing food from afar:

Shopping wisely and meal planning, we will get through the weekend with home cooked meals this month!! I swear!

September: She gets up while it is still dark, provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls: Start getting up and staying up now that the nausea is waning, like I used to, to make breakfast and lunch,put the dishes up, and start laundry.

October: She considers a field and buys it, out of her earnings she plants a vineyard:

Take care of money carefully, make good investments, set up a budget and stick to it, track expenses. We are renovating our house to sell and have a baby on the way, lots of investments there : )

November: She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes:

Work on some business ideas I have with my mom. Between online ventures I am considering and starting a Gift basket / favor business we are pretty excited. Prepare for our first craft show in December.

December: She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy:

I always have the highest hopes, the best intentions, and the worst execution of those intentions come Christmas season. I want us to be more charitable at Christmas time. There are so many in need, and so many that we could be serving. This year I am purposing for us to not be busy and weave that into our traditions. Serving sounds like a good skill to focus on.

January: Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value:

Prepare my mind and body for a natural birth at our midwifery. Spend this month prayerfully so that we have full confidence in my body's ability to bring this new life into the world. (this is also ongoing obviously, but in January it's time to really hone in and make sure we are prepared.

February: She makes coverings for her bed, she is clothed in fine linen and purple:

Maybe I won't be making my own bed coverings but ones for the baby. I want to tackle making a crib bedding set, room decor, and a few layette items. I can and love to sew, but always put things off and never have accomplished anything like crib bedding. Accomplishing this skill in February gives me the perfect time limit!

March: She watches over the affairs of her household, she does not eat the bread of idleness:

Help my family develop and stick to routines ala Flylady. I always try to on my own but it seems to go by the wayside eventually. This month I will develop routines for our family and individually and stay focused on keeping us on track with them....we'll need them with a newborn.

April: She speaks wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue:

Homeschool with two children for the first time.....this may be my bravest skill to learn yet : )

May: She sets about her work vigorously, her arms are strong for the task:

Start working out to get in shape.

June: She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night:

Get our house on the market and work diligently to get it sold ourselves.

July: S

he is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come:

Get the momentos and quadrillons of photos out of the boxes and make a scrapbook /chronicle of my children and marriage. I may be even able to laugh at the days that have passed if I can start writing them down to remember them all haha ; )

And that is that, that's what areas I want to work on for the next 12 months, here goes nothing yall. : )

Found my focus

printable menu planners from Alma Loveland

(these are too cute.)

Well, that was quick. I've found my verse/ characteristic to focus one...... the one that is in desperate need of attention around this house that is!

She is like merchant ships, she brings her food from afar....

Oh, I bring it from afar alright, as afar away from now as possible. While we have been trying to be very diligent in becoming more conscientious about what we are eating, I have let my entire shopping/planning/cooking process disappear as soon as my morning sickness appeared. But that should be wearing off soon, and the lack of planning is frustrating. Just today, my husband called to ask what's for dinner.

My unfortunately familiar response of uhm gave him a good laugh. So we went through ideas on the phone and everyone of them had something in that our fridge did not. So we opted for chinese and I opted to do better from now on! I said you know, I need to get back to taking dinner out to thaw in the morning then I know it's planned. My husband said yeah, babe I think that's a good idea. Actually, I've been thinking that too but I knew you'd realize it on your own and get back on track. He's so gracious.

So here, I am going to get back on track. I'm tired of having last minute thrown together meals, running out of our favorite foods before it's time to head back to the store, and eating less healthy out of haste. But there's no sense in beating myself up for it nor should anyone else in the same boat. We get thrown off sometimes, life just happens. But the thrilling part is being motivated to get back on track and see the improvement it will bring.

Some ways I plan to do this is:

-Clipping coupons again.

(this former coupon addict even let this go to the way side, even if they're aren't a lot available for most of the non-processed foods we've started to buy, there are plenty of savings for toiletries and household goods)

-Make a monthly bulk shopping list.

(this means only one or two "big" trips instead of more little ones. This is major for me as we were hitting a big box store and whole foods store on the same day to get the shopping done and first trimester fatigue was not working with it!, Also this includes non perishables, anything that can be frozen, toiletries, and household goods)

-Make a weekly perishable shopping list.

(when you plan to shop this way, your bound to eat healthier and not splurge on junk food)

-Make a weekly menu from what you buy and were able to get on sale, even if only for dinner.

-INCLUDE THE WEEKENDS IN YOUR MEAL PLAN....did I say that loud enough! : ) Really, I need to yell it loud enough to hear it myself. I would plan a five day meal plan and come time for the weekend, dinner plans were a lot of uhms and empty stomachs that resorted to eating out.

-Keep up with the nightly routine of washing the dishes as SOON as dinner is over, if you wait so will the dishes and they will only get more gross sitting there in mystery water. You are so much more inclined to cook when you have clean shining pots and pans that are put away.

-Put dry dishes away in the morning.

- Lastly, take dinner out to thaw and arrange everything on the counter or on a shelf in the fridge so it is all gathered and ready when you are ready to cook.

I think this should get me off to a good start, here's to starting over this weekend! : )